Current methods of detecting prostate cancer can be problematic, but researchers at Dundee University have found a new ultrasound that is less invasive, more accurate and far cheaper.

A radical new treatment for prostate cancer in which injections into the tumour boost the immune system to kill malignant cells has been hailed as a potential ‘game-changer’.

While so-called immunotherapies have become available over the past few years to battle tumours in the kidneys, lungs and other organs, none has been suitable for prostate cancer, which kills 12,000 men a year.

But now scientists at King’s College London have come up with a new method, injecting a man-made version of a naturally occurring protein called IL-15 – which increases the number and vigour of cancer-fighting cells.

At the moment, almost three-quarters of men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer die within five years, meaning they have worse survival rates than those with many other cancers [File photo]

They aim to start a trial involving 20 men with advanced prostate cancer at Guy’s Hospital in London next year, with backing from the Prostate Cancer Research Centre (PCRC).

'Lazarus' drug pulling men with lethal prostate cancer back from the brink through pioneering immunotherapy treatment

Scores of men with the most lethal form of prostate cancer have been ‘brought back from the brink of death’ by a drug found to work where all others have failed in a groundbreaking British-led trial.

Some patients whose bodies were riddled with cancer have had ‘Lazarus-like’ recoveries – and now show no visible signs of disease 18 months or more later, according to the doctor leading research into the treatment.

The medication, called pembrolizumab, is a type of immunotherapy that harnesses the body’s immune system to seek out and destroy tumour cells. It has already been shown to be highly effective in tackling other forms of the disease, including skin and lung cancer.

Scores of men with the most lethal form of prostate cancer have been ‘brought back from the brink of death’ by a drug found to work where all others have failed in a groundbreaking British-led trial

Now, a new study led by The Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital in London has found ‘amazing’ results in those with prostate cancer.

The disease is the most common form of male cancer: one in eight will be diagnosed with it during their lifetime. There are 47,000 new prostate cancer diagnoses annually in the UK alone, resulting in 11,000 deaths a year.

The trial looked at 258 men who had undergone numerous other treatments, including surgery, hormonal drugs and chemotherapy, to no avail. In many of them, the cancer had spread to their bones, usually a sign there is no more hope.

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